The Void 2 Shades of Grey
by VibrantRedisDead
Summary: If it weren't bad enough, the Void has a self proclaimed ruler. And, no, it isnt the bendy ones or the pink striped ones, it's Het! More surprises in the Void 2 Shades of Grey!
1. Chapter 1 THE betrayal

"Mr. Shadow, would you like some tea?" asked cream, approaching the table with a large porclean teapot in her hands.

He didn't know why he was there, or how, but all he knew was he had a terrible headache that had came as she left. Kat, the strangely friendly girl, always managing to get herself into trouble. Cream poured the sickly sweet liquid into the lavender cup before him. He seemed to be watching the steam. It was as if it was swirling around his nose, taunting him with sweet scents. Promising a better tomorrow. Promising… He sighed.

"We really have to get you outside," said Amy, watching the liquid come into her cup with a small 'splish'. "You haven't mentioned revenge once today. I was expecting more out of you. In fact, you haven't done more all year than mutter one word sentences!" Shadow closed his eyes, feeling the insanely hot liquid pour down his throat.

"Maybe Mr. Sonic and Mr. Knuckles could have a play-date with him. That's what mother does when I'm sad. It makes me forget everything!" Cream added hopefully. Amy looked at her and grinned. "I'll go call them now!" Cream disappeared into the hallway.

"Wait, what?"

"Two words… That's a start," mumbled Amy. The door banged open.

"Hey, buddy! Wassup?" said Sonic, skidding through the doorway. Shadow's cup crashed to the floor. "Playing tea-party?" he added, confused. He stood up straight.

"Where's Mr. Knuckles?" asked Cream, re-entering the room.

"He ran away screaming when I told him about Shadow… Heh. Want to help me find him?"

"I have a choice?" Shadow mumbled sarcastically.

"Four! No, now you two go have fun!" said Amy, shoving the two out the door. Something was up for sure, that was the first time she ever shoved Sonic off her doorstep. Shadow brushed the thought away, returning his attention to the task.

By the time they found him, it was dark. The moon was making weak attempts to glimmer out from behind the midnight blue clouds, filling the clearing with silvery light and shadows.

"What, you aren't going to run away again?" asked Shadow, arms crossed.

"Don't think we don't know what you're up to!" barked Knuckles. Shadow's face flushed.

"W-what? What the heck are you talking about? I think that radiation from the Master Emerald might've rubbed off on you… Unless you're on drugs. Is that what you were doing last week, or were you just hoping to see Rouge there?" If it was possible, Knuckles' face turned even redder. He took a step towards Shadow, who took another step backwards.

"Don't play dumb! We know you have a reason you didn't answer!"

"Yeah, being dumb is Knuckles' job!"

"Yeah, that's my… SHADDUP! WE FIGHT NOW!!!"

"Oh, so we're cavemen now?"

"SHADDUP!" Shadow laughed.

"You both are on drugs… Geez, I'm going back to Am— guh!"

_Dak Dak Dak!!!_

Shadow felt three sharp pains in his back, just before he fell to the ground, as stiff as a board. There was silence.

"I thought tranquilizers came after the fighting…"

"Me too… I was hoping for a fight, at least until Knuckles got KO'd."

"Shaddup, you…" Danny stepped out of the shadows, looking at Shadow's unconscious body.

"Uh, my finger slipped. He was too close for my comfort… I, uh… This is between us three, right?"


	2. Chapter 2 The tip of the iceburrrgh

A long groan escaped from the black hedgehog's throat. He freed himself from the poorly tied rope and sat up slowly. A luminescent light turned on above him, making it possible to see the outline of boxes and large crates. Everything seemed to swirl around him. He grabbed onto a nearby box and pulled himself up. His legs were wobbly for some reason. He closed his eyes, waiting for everything to stop. It didn't. A nearby door slammed open, spilling light onto him and the crates. He could see his breath.

Ah. So he was in a freezer… But why? A boy with purple hair and nothing on but a scarf and shorts walked in along with another boy, this one familiar. He didn't know how, but he could remember that boy…. Where was it? Ah, yes, now I remember.

"Danny..?" Shadow could see lights dancing in front of his eyes, so that's probably why he couldn't recognize him at first.

"HA! So the ultimate beings a mouse?" snorted the boy next to Danny.

"A MOUSE?! And I thought I was recovering from a hangover! You are a ludicrously blind twerp….."

"Twerp? Why you little…"

"Shadow, this is Laharl. Glad to see you two get along fine." The two stopped bickering, then looked at him in unison. It was clear that Danny was (for once) the only mature one there. "Anyway, Shadow, you were brought here against your will because your presence at the previous… Events… And your knowledge of those events are needed for the council meeting… Thingy." Laharl snorted once more, noting that Danny was reading this from his hand. "And we sorta need you for odd jobs and stuff. Not really odd, just…"

"He gets the point, even with that mouse brain of his." Laharl said, interrupting Danny. Shadow glared at him icily. "C'mon, times a wastin'." Laharl ran out of the freezer, Danny followed, and Shadow stood there, still getting used to his legs, before chasing off after them as well.

As he managed to catch up, he realized more and more that people were staring at him awkwardly. Finally he snapped.

"What the HECK is YOU PROBLEM?!?!" He yelled in the face of an un-expecting man with cat ears. The man was startled, as Shadow stood there shaking with fury. A slightly annoyed Laharl grabbed his arm and dragged him down the hallway.

"IF you _really_ want answers, yelling in people's face won't help. You should probably ask Ayu. She's in there." said Danny, pointing at the white door at the end of the hallway. "Be careful about what you say around her. She might throw a hissy fit. She's abit grumpy lately." Shadow wrenched the door open and stepped inside.

"All right, I want answers _now._" He said, door slamming behind him.

"So demanding. I believe I know who it is right away." A white cat was sitting in the middle of the small, white room on the beige colored desk. "Shadow the hedgehog, welcome. I see you've come to quite well…"

"Why am I here? And… Who the h-ll are you?"

"You don't remember me? I can see why… That stupid machine of his changed a lot." there was a moments pause. Shadow turned to face the door.

"Go back to your litterbox. I don't have time for games." he said quietly before nearly ripping the door off of it's hinges once more to open it. He bagtan to make his way out the door.

"If you would take the time to listen to an old cat, she has a few words to share, yet."


	3. Chapter 3 case a blank, duh!

A thick autumn fog covered the ground as the raindrops fell gently. A drop fell of the end of his black nose. So it was true. Everyone survived it. Danny, Tucker, and all of the prisoners. The chilly wind rippled through the leaves on the bushes. He was in a small suburb… It was Green something. He couldn't remember.

Ayu had told him that he would find what he was looking for here. But what was he looking for? The emeralds again? He would've known that already. Shadow sighed and walked on down the street. All the houses were box houses. All alike in build, and the same color, a blue-grey. They all had the same flowers, too. They were some sort of white flower, each with only six petals. They all looked as if they were wilting with their own pasty color.

A flickering yellow street lamp turned off completely, making the full moon stand out more brightly. The light made his rings glint faintly for a second. He noticed another flash down the street. It was a girl, about the age of 13, or 14. She was wearing a long, flowy denim skirt and a green sweater over a white shirt. She gasped when she saw him. He did too. She took off running across the street and around the corner.

"Hey, wait!" he followed after. She turned to see him once more, and sped up. She took a sharp right to cross the street, right in front of a truck. Shadow's eyes widened. He couldn't see her anymore. He noticed a rustle in the tall hedge across the street.

"_What do you think you're doing?"_ whispered a male's voice, harshly. Shadow approached the bush quietly. He could hear her gasping sobs.

"I'm sorry! I was only out for a little bit! I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry!" her face was stained in tears.

"_Shh!!!_" He put an abrupt finger to her lips. The man looked to be in his very late teens or early twenties. He had pale blue highlights in his hair. "Come on." He beckoned her towards the house. He followed her through the glass sliding doors. He glanced back quickly with an angry look before disappearing inside the house completely. Shadow sighed with relief . _Good, he hadn't seen me. _

He had a thousand more questions in his head now. The one who stumbled to the top was;

_How could Maria possibly still be alive?_

………………………………….

Silver moonlight once again shone through the window, illuminating part of her room. She stood up, criticizing her midnight blue bedspread. She re-made her bed. For some reason, she was restless tonight. Would it be because a hedgehog chased her half-way through town? Or because her best friend was mad at her for breaking the only rule he had?

One rule. It's all he asked of her, ever. And she had to break it. She flopped down on her bed again restlessly. _I'm sorry. I really am_. She thought to herself before drifting off in a light sleep.

…………………………………….

Shadow jumped down off of the pile of crates that were next to her bedroom window.

"I thought it was you." Shadow spun around to see the man again. "Shadow the hedgehog. Long time, no see."

"Who are you?" The man laughed.

"You don't remember me? I see you've been moping more lately instead of remembering. Shame." A twisted smile slipped over the man's face. "Now, what brings you here?"

"I… Ayu sent me to look for something or someone… Why is it any of your business?"

"Why is she any of yours?" Shadow opened his mouth to say something, but the sound didn't escape his throat.

"There is a curfew in this town, mind you." boomed a voice. Both of their heads turned to see a man in blue.

"Uh…"

"Cant you see we're busy?"

"Busy loitering get inside or I'll write you a ticket,"

"Ohhh. So scared. A pink piece of paper." spat the man. The guy in blue looked like he was about to explode. His face was a deep scarlet. Shadow edged away from the argument. He slipped in through the back door. Shadow found himself in a large, baby blue room with a dining table in the middle. The dinig table had a white tablecloth on it, and a silver, empty candle holder in the middle of that. The house was relatively larger than any of the other houses around. Iw was two stories, not including the attic and the possible basement below.

Shadow looked around the house, most of the picture frames and decoration were silver. He guessed their family must've had a high past. He finally got to a marble staircase, railings were of course silver. He hurried up the flight of stairs to the second floor. He opened a door, which lead to a large bathroom with a huge tub. He presumed it was a spa tub of some sort. He sighed and tried several more doors, which lead to a music room and a large, empty bedroom. He got to the last doorway. This one didn't have a door. Just a black and purple curtain. He gently pulled it aside to reveal a room with dark purple painted walls.

There she was, sleeping on the blue comforter. Her bed was covered in stuffed animals. Her face was covered partially by her hair. She looked just like he remembered it… Maria.

In case you didn't get the title, casablanka. I've heard of it and I think its a city. And, as described, the town is VERY blank.


	4. Chapter 4 Pearly whites and red tickets

There was a swirling mist around everything. She couldn't see anything…

_"Hello." _she nearly jumped to turn to see a white cat. It was small and had a beautiful pearly white coat. She bent down to pet it. She could feel her fingers run through it's silky coat. She was surprised. _"I come to help you." _

"H-help me?" she could hear her voice crystal clear. How could it… If it's just a dream? The cat nodded. She stood up. It was a dream. That's all. She shook her head in disbelief.

"Aheh. I get it. Okay, I'll listen." Most dreams like this turn out to be fun!

_"This isn't a game."_ the cat said solemnly. Oh. There was a yell… It sounded distant. Time to wake up from this freak show.

_"Oh no.. Quick… You have to listen to me..!"_

………………………………….

_"Maria." _he said the name in a whisper once more. He had found her… To think he had almost destroyed Earth. He would've never found her again! This couldn't be her, though. He had watched her die. But it was. Her hair had fallen across her face the same way then as it does now. Her face… It couldn't be real!

His eyes widened as he got closer. He was sure this was what Ayu had sent him here for… But why? Why would they have gone through all this trouble to do this? He had his suspicions, but they could wait. He closed his eyes once more.

"Maria." he said louder.

"Who?" she sat up, rubbing her eyes. Shadow backed up a few steps. "I don't know anyone… Are you..? You again? I thought…" she yawned. "…Mephiles got rid of you." she added sleepily.

His heart sank. In fact, it was burning like it had when Het… "Did you say Mephiles?"

"Yes, and I'm about to say it louder! MEPH- umph!" He shoved his hand over her mouth harder than he had meant to.

"Mephiles… Is that human?" Her eyes widened as she nodded. He lowered his hand. She seemed shocked from his previous action. "Then that must mean, you're… Kat?" She narrowed her eyes.

"How'd you… MEPHILES! SOME CREEP…!!" The door banged open.

"You rang?" he said darkly. Mephiles eyes slowly followed where she was looking at. The hedgehog was hard to see in the all-dark room. But Mephiles still managed.

"You…. So, you slipped away during our little argument?" he said, a smile slipping on his face.

"I'm taking you didn't get the ticket?"

"Yes, yes I did get the ticket… But it was his last one." he said, holding up a pink slipt with a drop of red on it. Kat's eyes widened.

"You killed a police officer? Doesn't thet make us… ILLEGAL?!?! Oh my gosh! Now what are we going to do? We're going to go to jail!" she began panicking. Mephiles sighed and raised his hand. Her eyes went glassy before dropping back on to the bed. A small moan escaped her lips.

"What did you do to her?" Shadow demanded. Just when his hopes were lifting, he had to ruin everything. Mephiles never failed in that part, anyway. "Besides. What do you want with her anyway? Haven't you already used her enough?" Mephiles smiled once more. What was with him and smiling? It's starting to get annoying…

"Why? Do you care for her? She is just a human after all. And, she's not that weak girl you were so smitten with before… Maria? And without that little touch of the emerald, she would've been nothing. And she is nothing. Those emeralds won't be able to make her anything like she was before. She's a different person now, if you haven't noticed." Shadow remembered how she had been so open to making friends before... But now she wouldn't even remember him, or even be willing to wave in his direction. He had hoped it was something else. Maybe an influence from Mephiles. But maybe it was true. She was different now.

"That's right. So why don't you just leave now?"

"Because… It's not _her_. It's you, isn't it?" There was a moments pause before he lunged. Mephiles was startled by the sudden revoltion. But would he expect anything else from the one and only, would he?

……………………………………….

_There was that cat again. Kat sighed. What did it want this time?_

"_Listen, now. You can't trust Mephiles." Kat laughed. Not trust Mephiles?... He just killed someone; She reminded herself._

"_You have to get as far away from him as possible. And… The black hedgehog, knowing him, you've probably already met. Now, I'm going to show to you as much as I can…" Kat nodded._

_There was a flash of bright blue light._

……………………………………..

83 I hope you guys are enjoying this so far. I know it gets kinda confusing, But I'm sure it'll all unfold pretty soon! Special thanks to my rabid readers! If I have any. XD


	5. Chapte 5 Cookie currency toTraverse town

A crisp leaf fell by her foot. _What are in these stupid crates, anyway? _Thought Kat. Her foot nearly slipped. It would be morning soon. She hoped they hadn't noticed her departure. She had spent a year living with Mephiles, who turned out to be the type to kill police officers. Just goes to show that you can't know someone enough. Kat gripped the edge of the crate tightly and let herself drop onto another one.

That cat had turned out to be right so far. So… She had to get away from Mephiles. That's all there is to it! Kat huffed and dropped down onto the grass. And there is was. The note.

_Kat,_

_You must find a way to Traverse Town. There will be some people waiting for you there._

Not to mention Kat was right as well! Dreams like that do turn out to be fun! Kat sprinted off into the night.

………………………………………

"Grrrahh!!" Shadow and Mephiles both slammed into opposite walls. "Why… Don't you give up already? This is pointless…"

"Not… Until you let her go!" He charged at the human again. Surprisingly, he had the same resilience and power as he did before. Mephiles didn't even smile this time. He simply stepped aside and let Shadow skid to a stop. Mephiles's frown deepened as he pointed to the open window.

"You're too late. She's already gone… It seems that she already freed herself." Shadow's eyes nearly popped out of his head with surprise.

"She just… Left…!" Shadow leapt out the window.

"You idiot! Crap…" Mephiles's current form was too tall to try to get through such a small opening in a comfortable manner.

………………………………..

"I can't park too close to Traverse Town… We don't want to get into trouble for parking without using an airport!" said Tails cheerfully. Kat smiled broadly. Just like Ayu told her. _First you must ask the two tailed fox and offer him cookies for taking you to Traverse Town._

The Bi-plane landed on the soft green grass. It was just the crack of dawn, the purples and gold spilling through the sky. She hopped out the side and waved goodbye to Tails. He waved back before taking off again.

"Traverse town, here I come!"

………………………

Meh apolagies for not writing a longer chapter. TT it comes, it goes. Plus it's late! 83


	6. Chapter 6 The dark library asilver heart

"Hello?" the wooden door slammed shut behind her. "Anyone here? Hell-oooo…." Suddenly there was a heart stopping yowl. Kat froze as she was knocked to the ground.

"Explain yourself!" the voice's accent was hardly translatable. Kat's head was spinning.

"ohhh…" she moaned.

"Donald!" snapped someone. The voice was familiar. "Must you knock everyone who comes in through that door off of their feet?" Kat felt herself being pulled up.

"Hey, are you okay?" asked another voice. She never heard this one before.

"I… I think so. What is this place? Other than Traverse Town of course…" the place smelt of old books.

"Some light?" meowed a voice. A purple candle soon illuminated the entire room. It was a library. The cat was sitting on top of the counter, next to a brunette cashier.

"I'm Ceciele." said the brunette. She waved cheerfully.

"And I'm Ayu. Perhaps you should sit down?" The boy that helped her up pulled out a chair. He was holding a rather large Key. He had brown hair and such blue eyes.. Kat sat down in the chair.

"A library? I haven't been to one, other than our own, for so long." Kat smiled warmly, in the midst of strangers. She fingered along the books on the shelf next to her.

"Good to see you've got here safely. I suppose you don't remember much of what happened about a year ago?"

"Of course I do. I went to my Parent's friends place for the school year since they went on vacation!"

"Uh… I'm not sure that she remembers anything at all!" Sora smiled and rubbed the back of his head.

"Maybe… It would help her to remember if she would've kept a journal? Do you think…"

"She didn't. I'm sure of it." Kat smiled in uncertainty.

"What?" Kat also wanted to be in on the conversation. The cat smiled a fanged grin, it was supposed to be reassuring, but she shivered.

"Perhaps we should take this conversation upstairs? We needn't worry her." The cat sprang from the counter top. With a flick of her tail, the cat motioned for them to follow her before scurrying up the old wooden stairs. The cashier stayed behind.

"We should stay down here." the brunette said hopefully. Kat nodded solemnly as she grabbed one of the dusty old books from the shelf. It had "Le Renard De La Nuit" in gold cursive print on the front. Luckily she had picked up some French, from the French variations of many books in her old library. After what seemed like hours later from watching the cashier bustle about and random readings, the cashier finally spoke again.

"I'm going to go see what they're up to, okay? Do you think you'd be okay by yourself for a few seconds?" Kat looked up from the French version of the Phantom, and nodded. She'd be fine. She found this part very exciting. Christine had just been revealing her secrets about her disappearances. What the phantom was doing seemed too romantic for her. She let her eyes bore back into the pages.

The room was ghastly quiet. She felt a tingly sensation crawl over her skin. Maybe the book was _too_ exciting. She looked up to see that it was dark outside already. Kat sighed and returned to her book. A familiar hum played. She realized it wasn't from her. A pair of hands slid over hers and closed the book with a small clap. She looked up to look into a pair of yellow eyes. A fatigued sigh escaped as the figure pulled her (and her chair) silently closer to them self.

………………………………………….

_Thunk Thunk BANG! Fa-shoooooo…_

The cat's sensitive ears picked up these sounds. Several heads turned in alarm.

"Kat, hey, are you alright?!" called Sora, making his way down the stairs first. There was a cry of surprise.

"My library! My library! My books! My books! Oh, dear!" the cashier fretted over the knocked over bookcases.

"My, my, my… Didn't we make a mess? Tsk'd Etna. She lifted up one of the knocked over bookcases. Underneath it was a splintered table and several falling apart books. Sora threw book after book from the piles to make his way to the other side of the room. The cat sniffed around, sneezed, then resumed searching.

"There she is! Oh, my!" Kat was on her stomach, face cut, and her body curled up around something as if to protect it.

"Oh, gawrsh! Look, here, too!" Goofy pointed to a beat up black and red hedgehog. "This guy kinda scares me…" Ayu softly made her way to the unconscious figure. So it was him. Shadow had found his way here. Ayu smiled. He was smarter than she thought. She let out a small laugh. The hedgehog stirred and Goofy yelped, leaping behind Sora for shelter.

""I.." The cat's ears perked up. His voice was tired and shaky. He held out his hand. Clutched in it was a silver necklace with a heart attached with a peridot stone in it. ".. Got it… Back." The hedgehog went unconscious again with a moan, but a smirk on his face.


	7. Chapter 7 chikan perverted binoculars

The bright morning sunlight poured in through the dusty attic window onto the black hedgehog. He closed his eyes tightly, but surrendered to the fact it was morning. He sat up sleepily, blinking twice. All what had happened last night was all but a blur… Who, exactly, was that stranger? He didn't need to worry about that right now… He turned to see Kat, snoring softly, on the other side of the room. He sighed with relief before making his way down the stairs.

……………………………………

_It was snowing.. Kat opened her mouth and stuck out her tongue as to catch the white flakes on her tongue. The touch of the flakes sent a shiver up her spine. Kat closed her eyes, smiling. The grass... Everything was so green despite the snow. She began to trudge through the thin layer of snow. The sky was a despairing grey, yet the air was humid. She looked around. The forest was relatively empty._

_"Oof!" she tripped. She looked back to see what she tipped over. She gasped with surprise. Two small silver bracelets, both took the form of dragons biting their own tail in attempt to make a perfect circle. Their wings were folded down against themselves to make the slim ring. Kat blinked in astonishment. They had a circular peridot stone on the forehead of the dragon, matching the stone on her necklace. She grabbed for them for closer inspection without hesitation. She gasped as the two rings' stones glowed brighter and brighter. Pretty soon she was surrounded in green light._

"Gwaah!" Kat hit the floor with a satisfying thud. "Fwoo." She sputtered the feather out of her mouth. Where'd it come from? She heard the rattle of two more things hitting the floor. "Oh."

"Hey, you okay up there?" called a voice from down the stairs. Kat grabbed the two bracelets.

"Yeah." she muttered. She slipped the one on her left wrist, and the second on the other. She stomped down the stairs to say good morning.

…………………………………………

"…So, as we try to contact Timmy, why don't you go out for some fresh air? His time scooter could prove as some use." Kat nodded. She didn't know how she got into that forest, or if it was a dream. All she knew was that she saw those yellow eyes before she even got there. She got up, and headed towards the door. She had just recently changed back from a pair of pajamas to the outfit she wore yesterday. Ceceile had washed them for her.

"You can't really go out by yourself…" said the cat dryly. Kat seemed alarmed.

"Why not?!" she exclaimed, half whining. The cat seemed amused by her naivety.

"Well, for starters, who knows what could happen after last night…" Kat huffed and growled before leaning against the wall.

"No matter what I do, I'm stuck with a babysitter." she mumbled.

"Aw, don't take it personally, shorty!" exclaimed a voice. A girl with lilac hair stepped out into the room and rushed over by the moping Kat's side. The girl gave Kat a noogie before she could protest.

"The name's Anna Lee Rosworth!" the girl said cheerfully, letting her matching rabbit ears pop up.

"I don't remember you…" the cat said coldly. Ceceile seemed alarmed.

"she's our double agent, remember?" Cece said frantically. The cat sighed.

"I swear, sometimes I forget who's who around here… I must've met you somewhere, then?" said the cat, smiling. Kat shuddered. She could tell the cat had good intentions, but the effect wasn't what Ayu had hoped for. The rabbit girl scratched her head with her long fingernails. Kat growled.

"I'm not short… I'm taller than all the girls in the next two grades!"

"Aww… How adorable! She goes to school, too?" Kat stomped her feet and closed her eyes tight. Her head was going to explode. How could a stranger be so rude?!

Shadow watched her little temper fit with no expression. He had been thinking the same thing, too… But then again, he had no room to talk. Kat spotted him watching her.

"C'mon…" she growled, grabbing his gloved hand.

"Uh… Okay." She whisked them both out the door.

"Whaddi say?"

The hedgehog and the girl came out through the wooden door, slamming it shut behind them. The girl was literally dragging the hedgehog behind her.

The boy lowered the binoculars from his eyes. She was beautiful He thought to himself.

"Awww, Jordy, I swear, if you drag me out here one more time so you can spy on some girl and look down her shirt with those binoculars, you've got another thing coming. Ayujor jumped, face a nasty shade of scarlet. "I told you not to call me that! I'm not looking… There… Besides she's wearing a turtle neck!"

"Whatever… Jordy." Ayujor chucked the binoculars at the man with cat ears. He caught them.

"Temper, temper!" said a voice, sweetly.

"Ah, Bee. How'd it go?" Beatrices' face brightened. Her lilac rabbit ears perked up as well.

"Piece of cake. Now, who's shirt are you looking down this time?" she said, noticing the binoculars in her brother's hands.

"Not me this time." said the mischievous cat-eared man. "They're his." Ayujor's hair was on end.

"Give those back!" he leapt for binoculars.

"Ah, ah, ah!" Jeremy raised the lenses to his eyes, also looking at her, but she was farther down. When 'Jordy' finally got them back, she was gone.

"What does she see in that rodent anyway?" he sighed and slumped into a sitting position on the edge of the roof. Jeremy leaned into his dog-brother's ear.

"The turtle neck wasn't part of her sweater…" Ayujor's face turned pink once more.

"Dammit, you sick minded cat!"


	8. Chapter 8 Flashy thingy

"Aaaand stop." Kat stopped abruptly. Shadow opened his mouth to ask her why they stopped, but then she spoke again. "I think I heard something." He looked around and saw nothing. He hadn't heard anything. "Maybe I felt it… Not really heard it…."

"You can't tell the difference between heard and felt?"

"Well, they both have to do with vibrations… You didn't hear anything or feel anything? Are you sure? Maybe I _am_ running away with my imagination… Metaphorically speaking… Well, not anymore!" She took off running.

"What? Hey, wait up!" It didn't take long for him to catch up (about teo seconds, not even). "What are you running for? Could you at least tell me what you think you're running from?"

"I can't remember, but it was something scary…"

"Scary?"

"Yeah, really scary. 'It was it's presence that really sent the chills up my spine,'" the quoted in a zombie-like voice. Shadow snorted.

"Whatever. I'm serious you know. You shouldn't go running off like that for nothing. What could be going on right now isn't a joke at all. You had me worried for a moment." He sighed with relief. Her face brightened.

"Really?" She looked at him. "To bad that wasn't-." Her voice was interrupted by a scream. .Her own. She had looked back, and there it was. A faceless.

"Damn." Shadow stopped. Kat stopped too, looking back at him as if he were a total idiot. Shadow leapt up, and in mid air, he threw a chaos spear. Kat watched in awe.

"- acting." she muttered. Kat watched him.

"What are you doing standing there? Run!"

"From what? You just defeated that guy-"

"THEM!" a sea of black small figures seemed to be approaching fast. Kat gulped.

"Oh. _Them_." Kat seemed to just stand there, looking at the black figures. Shadow turned and growled.

"C'mon! Don't just stand there!" He grabbed her hand lading the way. The little monsters were gaining up fast. As Shadow went faster, Kat seemed to get slower.

"I pant don't think pant I can go much faster!" He looked at her face, which had her hair matted against her forehead. He sighed once more.

"We're almost there, anyway."

"Almost where?"

"At… That… Place…" He hadn't seen the address. I suppose it's bad when all the houses look the same.

"_That… Place._" she crossed her eyes, and sighed. "I suppose we're in deep crap, huh? Why don't you do that one flashy thing?"

"Flashy thing?"

"Uh… What? I can't remember. I just felt weird for a moment. Prolly cuz we're going too freaking fast! Freaking brains probably being smished in the back of my head!"

" 'Smished'… Is that even a word?"

"Think I care?" she laughed strangely. "Do you think you can do a flashy thing to get us out of this mess?"

"Fl- CHAOS CONTROL!"

-------------------------

"Bwahahahaha!"

"What's so funny?"

"You almost said flashy thingy, didn't you?" Shadow flushed as the entire room's attention was set on them. Kat was deep into a giggle-fit when someone spoke.

"You're a bit early, aren't you?" The voice was all too familiar.


	9. Chapter 9 a small piece of the puzzle

Kat was silent, her head at an awkward angle, eyes staring off as if in a distant place. Shadow's clenched fist was brought up near his face, as if studying it. He then looked at the man.

"You have a lot of nerve. To bad all of them will be broken when I'm done with you." he growled, the most hated man in the world stood there as if he didn't know a thing. Ayu and the others were nowhere in sight. He assumed they went to fetch the Timmy kid. Shadow lunged for the man, who stepped aside. He turned to punch him again, but realized Kat, who was still standing there.

"Kat?"

"I…" she stood up straight again. "I… Know him." She was beginning to remember as he was in the middle of a fight. Great.

"I remember seeing him after school somewhere…" She looked at the door. "What was that?"

There was a small 'umph'. She couldn't see, and a hand had clamped itself over her mouth. She struggled to move. Once again, being held captive. Who did they think she was? A damsel in distress? Kat bit the hand over her mouth. There was a yell of pain. She could move again!

She looked to see Mephiles, holding his bleeding hand. Oops. She looked around. She was no longer in the more-or-less cozy bookstore. She was in the middle of a forest. Typical, always taking her to forests. Kat groaned with disbelief and began walking off in a random direction. It was a while before she got to an opening in the forest.

"Hey, toots! Watch where you're walkin'!" She looked down to see a miniature man, he had elfish ears and a scowling expression on his face. He was carrying a small ladder towards a small town of miniscule buildings. Like a city. But much smaller.

"Oh, sorry!" she yelped, leaping out of his way. A boy came out of the trees and into the clearing.

"Stupid sticks… Catching fire so easily…" he grumbled. He had green highlights in his hair. Kat waved at him, and he dropped the twigs.

"Sorry!" she rushed over to him and picked up the tiny things. "I don't mean to interrupt, but could you _please_ tell me where I am?" The boy stood up straight.

"Yeah, Centerville Forest Park..."

"Okay, thanks!" she dropped the twigs and ran out of the clearing. "Watch out for the guy with blue and black hair, n'kay?" She saw the boy frown and bend over to pick up the twigs she dropped again before he was out of sight.

………………………………………Shadow

The idiot disguised himself as a book! Shadow ripped out the pages of books, one after another. He had disappeared right at this bookshelf… There was a small squeak. One of the books had fallen over onto a mouse. Was it him?

He watched the mouse for a few moments. It's whiskers quivering as it slipped out from beneath the book, and flipped through the pages a bit. This would have been accounted as unusual, but since the worlds have merged, he's seen talking non-anthromorphic ducks talk and weasels read Nancy Drew novels.

It shoved the book off of the shelf and picked the next book. Then went through several more. But only a few stayed up next to the mouse;

_Gems of the New World; Super Natural- The things that remain the same throughout worlds_, books of that genre. The mouse had gone through the entire row before pulling out a small device that had made the books it had chosen disappear. An infinite matter cube? The mouse leapt on the floor and squirmed beneath a door he hadn't noticed before.

Shadow walked towards it slowly and opened it. It lead to a dark, musty smelling set of stairs that lead into black.


	10. Chapter 10 The real Library

……………………………Mephiles

_Argh! How could it be so hard?_ He wiped the blood on his jeans. _God she can bite! _He pushed aside the shrubbery to reveal an opening with a tiny town in the middle. He snorted and walked straight through it. He purposely kicked over one of their tallest buildings.

"What a pile of crap…" There was a flash to his left, when he turned to see a red dragon.

"Oy! Whadd' you think you're doing?"

"Heh… Have you seen a girl come by here by any chance?"

"And why should we tell you?" The dragon crossed it's arms, one of it's canines showing.

"Yeah, we seen un, she went that way, now get yer friggin foot offa my house!" Mephiles laughed and walked in the direction the small man pointed.

"Gramps… I think we're going to need a little help re-building the village…"

…………………………..Kat

"This is so much fun!" Kat exclaimed. A man slammed his head on the poker table.

"How the heck can you possibly win… ten times in a row?"

"I can't say… This is my first time playing." The man gripped the edge of the table to pull himself up as the other broke players left. "What? Nobody wants to play anymore?" she pouted as she left the table herself. She stretched and grabbed the backpack she bought after winning the first game.

Her eyes sparkled as the sun was leaving the sky. She had entirely forgotten about what she was supposed to be doing. Today, and yesterday, she should've been finding the way back home. It couldn't be far, seeing as how she was only in New York. In fact, her parents said they'd be here with her little sister. She'd just have to ask around.

She walked out into the darkening, lamp lit streets. She yawned.

"Now what?" she asked herself, looking up at the tall buildings. She felt so strange as she looked up at the stars. She was the only person like her in all of the universe, and universe is a big word. Seeing how that all the worlds seemed to be one though, it seemed so small now. You couldn't compare it to anything. The sun was gone now, leaving a full moon in the sky. At least they had a moon. How many would they have if they took moons from all the planets…?

"Hey…" She had bumped into someone. He was tall, and she couldn't see his face. She blinked, trying to clear her head in order to see him. She couldn't clear it enough to see his face.

"Watch out, okay?" his voice was quiet. She nodded and watched him leave.

"Weird." she mumbled as he left. Kat walked on, looking at the bright lights and such. She had never walked around a city at night. Kat frowned. What was that yelling? It was far off and distant. She walked towards it casually. Turns out it was a drunk guy throwing beer bottles on the corner of 5th Avenue.

Soon she found a rather nice looking hotel. When she entered the lobby, she was greeted by modern looking furniture and decorations. And a door opener. That was nice, too.

Kat walked up to the check in counter. The lady there looked awfully familiar.

"Hi, my name's Stephanie. Can I help you?"

"Uh, yes please. I'd like… A room."

"For one? Okay, here's your key. The fifth floor, room five fifteen. On this floor is the pool, and the cafeteria is on the second floor. To call the front desk, dial 1 and whatever number for the services you need will be listed in the information booklet next to your bed. Have a nice stay." Kat thanked her and headed up to her room for a well deserved bath.

…………………………………….Shadow

A light flickered on in the distance. It gave off a dull light. Shadow walked towars it. Then a whole row of lights turned on, revealing what seemed like infinite rows of books. A little sign hung up said;

Biographies

So? A huge underground library filled with biographies. Shadow randomly grabbed a book, and pulled it out.

_Agguh, Bugh 2045 B.C.-1025B.C._

Did they even have books then? What a joke.

_Anvers, Arthur 1904A.D.- ?_

Wasn't that some guy at the retirement home across the park? Why would they have a book about him? Shadow dropped th book in surprise. The cover now read;

_Anvers, Arthur 1904A.D.-2009A.D._

He carefully put it back. Had he just…

Maybe he'd be in here somehow? He used chaos control to get to the HE section. There were thousands of Hedgehogs. Artie, Roberto, Nina, you name it.

Finally, he pulled out his own name. Shaking, he turned it to the last page. Blank. He went to the index. He turned to the page listed…

_TODAY;_

_Woke up around 10 A.M… _He skimmed to the last written line.

_Snooping around in Library._

He bit his lip. So… This book writes as you do things? What was Kat doing? What was her last name?

_Clunk. Clunk. Whir-._

Shadow turned to see a computer on a small table. It was old looking, and it had a Book Search pulled up. What good would a book search do? He thought of giving it a shot. He typed in;

_blonde, girl, 13 years_

He got a few thousand results. He clicked on advanced search. It gave you a first name and last name slot. He put in Kat in the first name slot.

_Kat Avery_

_Kat Nimmo_

_Kat Vyrns_

Only three that fit the description out of thousands. Whew.

He pulled up Kat Avery.

_Girl about the age of 13, wide traveler, tends to get into large amounts of trouble, though not intended to._

We have a winner.


	11. Chapter 11 the mysterious reappearance

……………………………….Kat

Kat tightened her robe and slipped out onto the balcony. The balcony floor was cold on her bare feet. She sat on the wicker chair and pulled her knees up to her chest. She breathed in the cool night air (which, notably, smelt mostly of car exhaust). She looked across the rooftops at the moon. Suddenly a shadow leapt in front of the moon. He was standing on one of the tallest buildings. He looked to be the same man she'd bumped into a while ago. She realized she'd been holding her breath. She let out a long sigh and closed her eyes. When she opened them, he was gone.

"Well, what's this?"

………………………………Shadow

Shadow froze and turned to see Ayu. The white cat had snuck up on him.

"Curious are we?" Shadow had been caught red handed with the bio book in his hand. He hadn't gotten far, only having a glimpse of the silver-type cover.

"I wouldn't be caught here when the library closes. You might not be able to get back out." He hid the book so she wouldn't see it.

"Why's that?"

"It's to close in fifteen seconds. I'd hurry." The cat nodded its head in the direction of the purple door.

"Fif-"

"Hurry!"

"Fine, fine!" and with that, he was gone, book still in hand.

……………………………Kat

That was, what, the third time she lost her necklace? How long had it been gone? She hadn't noticed. She bit her lower lip, trying to remember as she fastened the thing around her neck. The man seemed familiar, with white hair. It picked up colors easily, so it was tinted with the lights of the city. Eventually she gave up.

_My memory's a lost cause. _She thought as she dialed the number for room service. At least she remembered that.


	12. Chapter 12 Mischeviousness

Shadow---------------------------------------

The book had said, 'New York City'. There were several, now, and didn't exactly specify which one, but luckily it had listed the hotels name. But why would she stay at a hotel so close to where Mephiles had been? Was she hurt? His heart skipped a beat with the thought.

He used chaos control, hopeful that this would be the right one.

Kat's head was resting against the head-board of the bed, unfinished cookie in hand, a few specks of crumbs by her mouth. She was still in the white robe, the hotels initials stitched on the right shoulder.

Kat-------------------------------------------

"Mmmm…" Her eyes hesitantly opened. She glanced down at the partially eaten sugar cookie. She blinked again before looking around the room. She could only stifle her yelp when she saw him. He was sleeping –snoring rather loudly, too-. She checked and made sure everything was still on. It was cold last night, the perfect excuse to wear a robe over jeans and her tee shirt.

She wiped the crumbs from her mouth and stood up, rushing towards the bathroom. She noticed the book hanging loosely in his hands as she washed her face. She couldn't read the backwards print. She sat on the edge of the bed, looking at the cover. Eventually, curiosity took over, and, on her back, she went under the chair and read the page that it was opened to.

_NOTABLE EVENTS;_

_short story format;_

_April 13; 6__th__ grade;_

"_My turn!" they were in the middle of 5__th__ period gym; volleyball._

"_I want to serve again…"_

"_C'mon, rotate green team!" Anise shoved the ball into Kat's chest, making her stumble a bit._

"_Thanks…"_

"_b-----"_

"_Jerk…" Within second Anise turned, and decked her in the face. Blood was all over, and she had to go to the hospital, three stitches total._

Kat blinked. Was this for real? She put one of her fingers on her upper lip gently. There it was, the scar. She didn't remember starting a journal… Maybe this was a police record?

She turned the page, nearly forgetting that it was still in one of his hands. It was slipping, losing the only millimeter in tact. She read on, her heart thumping louder and louder.

_What is this? Why does he even have this… Holy crap! This is… Personal stuff!_

Her face reddened with embarrassment. How far had he gone? Was it too late to get rid of it? The book finally came loose, falling to the floor with a whump. She jerked to attention, and, in attempt to escape, hit her head on the underside of the chair.

"Skrk! Hrmm…?" Her heart pounded louder, she thought she was going deaf. His head appeared -upside down-, his sleepy look on his face switched immediately to one of surprise. "What are you doing?" She thought she was going to explode with embarrassment.

"Nothing." she squeaked. He smiled weakly as she scrambled out from under the chair. "What are you doing here?"

"Saving you."

"Do I look like I need saving? Besides, I'm looking for my parents and my sister." She looked at him, he didn't look it, but she sensed he was disappointed. "You're just lucky you're cute." She turned and went out the door, leaving behind yet another –blushing- confused face.

Shadow………………

_Blip! Blip! Blip!_

His watch… He flicked it open.

"Where are you?" Ayu.

"New York. Uh… Some sort of hotel."

"Why?" Amy's voice piped up.

"Because… Kat went missing again, and I found her. She… She just left again, though."

"Smooth." mumbled another voice.

"Go find her, we figured something out!" Shadow sighed. Another wild chase, would it ever stop? Suddenly the door flung open.

"The hotel wants money… And I don't really have any…"


	13. Chapter 13 Back to the ARK,,, what?

Kat………………….

She didn't exactly like the idea of leaving before paying, but at least they'd get paid soon. She tucked her legs underneath herself, as Shadow paced around the room. They were in the ARK, wherever that was. She grinned awkwardly, unsure of what surprise she'd have to grasp next. He left the book sitting on the table next to her, sinking into the dust. She was still confused, who had wrote that book?

"What are we doing?" she asked. This seemed to agitate him more. He just grunted. She sighed and began to get up.

"No. Wait right there." he glanced at her as she said this, a spark of mystery in his eye. He rushed off, and as he said, she froze right there, half in and half out of the chair. He returned with a leather-bound book and (hesitantly) handed it to her. He opened it to a page for her, letting her see the over 50 year old almost perfectly preserved pictures.

Shadow…………..

His throat tightened. Maybe she'd figure it out? Or would he have to flat out tell her? She stared blankly at the page.

"Is this a friend of yours?" she asked, pointing to the frail-looking blonde. No! How could she not know?! Patience... He told himself. One of the few things he didn't have.

"You read the book, right?"

"Only a page…" she looked up at him, her clueless eyes locking on to his. Her eyes, the eyes that have seen even more than he has, or, perhaps, more than he ever will-... He stood there, trying to configure the words racing across his mind into a pattern. He took the book on the table, and opened it to the first page.

_The blonde –blue eyed, light soul- that appears in many times, many worlds, has been followed throughout history. She appears in some of the most unlikely places, with the most unlikely ways of seeing things. In every story, no matter how large or small the role, she's there. The persona varies from time to time, adapting to the surroundings, but is common in many ways. In this case however, having the power 'unlocked', has merged the worlds together, and, in result, the most recent has now become overwhelmed with memories of past lives, now appearing to have none. Only dreams of previous lives._

Kat……………………….

It looked like his face literally jumped off a cliff, and fell so far it nearly killed itself. Kat could nearly see what seemed to be tears in his eyes…

"Look, maybe we should talk about this later… Uh, I guess it's still, late, huh?" he looked up from the book. It sure felt that way. Kat nodded. It had been a long day, she could've probably slept standing up.

As if her body knew where to go, she walked down the hall and into a room, turning on -and then off,- the lights.


	14. Chapter 14 the closing, and the opening

Kat……………………

What was _he_ doing here? Mephiles was standing in front of her, once again. This time, a ludicrously large jewel in one of his hands. It was glowing. Her eyes couldn't come away from the bright pulsing energy coming from it…

He saw the glittering in her eyes. He let out a small laugh.

_Oh. It's just a jewel. Of course, with JUST so much power in it you could do anything… Like find out what REALLY happened about a year ago…And change it back to the way it's supposed to be. No more lies, or confusion. See?... How it should be…_

She felt lost. What's happening? She couldn't see anything… What was that? Ow… Was she falling? Yes… Oh no… Not again…

_Thud._

Mephiles…………

_What… happened? _Mephiles sat up. Where was it? Where was the emerald? Where was Kat? A bright pair of headlights sped towards him, he nimbly dodged it before he was to become a pancake on the highway. He looked around. Back on Earth…

So that was the glittering in her eyes. The emerald reflecting in them. But what exactly did she do? Mephiles looked around for clues of his whereabouts. There was none, except for a small cluster of suburban lights in the distance.

He made his way towards it, only to find a recent and tattered world map. Only seven continents… His heart froze. Everything went back to normal? This was terrible. IT wouldn't be long before _he _would find out about this… And she everything else.

Extremely short chapter, and the end of part 2. SUE ME! BWAHAHAHA! 83


	15. Update!

Update

Update! For the Void readers of 1 and 2, there is a THIRD! Please read and comment!


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